Circumstance
by MarieLewis
Summary: Madge doesn't know who rescued her from the bombing of District 12. Her parents are dead and gone, and District 13 shouldn't even exist. She has no one. No one except stern and severe Gale Hawthorne. Warning: AU (may or may not have language in future.)
1. Chapter 1

She's outside, picking flowers for her mother when she hears it. A horrible, earth shaking noise.

One minute Madge is leaning forward to pluck the dandelion she almost stepped on from the grass, and the next she is sprawled across the ground as though someone pushed her from behind.

Another booming sound; Madge screams, and the ground shakes again.  
The basket she'd been using to collect flowers is upside down, the flowers strewn across the grass.

Madge wobbles as she stands, she needs to get home, but she is closer to the Seam than she is to the Mayor's Manor. The best flowers are always by the meadow, and that's where she is.  
In the distance, she can see fires, in the town, she thinks, because of how tiny the flames look.

Her heart skips a beat as she steps forward, then begins to run.  
Madge isn't sure, but those sounds she heard? They sounded like the bombs they set off to open a mine.

She sprints as fast as she can, through the Seam houses, her feet pounding heavily on the coal-blacked road. The closer she gets to the town, the more people she sees. But they aren't running in the same direction. In fact, they seem to be running passed her, back towards the meadow.

Madge trips, stumbles, falls to the ground as another bomb whistles through the air. She watches as it lands, unable to tear her eyes away. She is at the edge of the Seam now and she watches as the bakery owned by the Mellark family explodes in an eruption of flames.

She is too far to feel any heat, but those closer fly through the air like puppets from the force.

A man lands not a mile from where she is lying. The shock spurs her into action.

Her parents.

Her mother.

"No," she half pants, half sobs to herself.

The streets are chaotic and crowded, townspeople and Seam folk stampeding around her.  
Someone knocks her down, but she pushes herself up, shoving through.

Another bomb whistles through the sky, people scream as it lands, so much closer than the last.

Madge cries out in pain as something lodges itself in her calf. Her heart is seizing in fear, and for a moment, she can't hear the screaming or see the terror in everyone's faces.

I will die here, she thinks, as District 12 swims around her. I will die here while my home burns around me.

"Madge? MADGE!"

She hears the yell but cannot respond. Consciousness is leaving her quickly. The pain in her leg is too much to bear.

An arm wraps around her waist, yanks her up and over someone's shoulder. Her stomach is pressing painfully against the hard bone, her world flips upside down, then, there is nothing.

0000

Madge awakes in a room so bright, she has to shut her eyes as soon as she's properly opened them. Eyes tightly closed, she realises she is on a bed, and her leg is achy but not painful.

Slowly, she cracks her eyes back open. This must be a hospital, of some sort. But...where? And why is she alone? Didn't anyone else escape?

Madge blinks away tears. Her parents must be dead then. Even if others had escaped, her parents wouldn't have been able to run through the burning town to follow the rest of District 12.

Her mother barely made it out of bed for supper on a good day.

There are too many tears to blink back, and Madge's breath catches in her throat as she cries, gasping and sobbing as she lies there.

"Is your leg hurting you? The doctors said it shouldn't be."

Somewhere between catching her breath and letting out a sob, she chokes, coughing and hacking as she tries to sit up.

Madge swipes her hands over her face, trying to clear away the snot and wetness when she sees that it's Gale Hawthorne, tall and intimidating as ever, standing in the doorway.

She shakes her head violently, clearing her throat, "No I- no." She must look horrible, she thinks, all bedraggled and puffy-eyed.

Gale invites himself in and sits in an empty chair beside her bed.

"Do you, um, need anything?" he asks. He sounds uncomfortable, she thinks.

She sniffs and wipes at her eyes again. "No," she mutters. A lump is still blocking her throat, and talking seems to make her want to cry more.

But... she needs to ask. About the District.

Not her parents, that is an answer she does not need.

A heavy hand lands on her shoulder, it's weight warm and a little comforting. Madge keeps her eyes glued to her hands where they lay in her lap, she can't look at him for fear she'll lose the battle against her sobs.

"You should rest, Madge, your leg will be fine, I'll get the doctors to give you more morphling." Gale adds pressure to her shoulder, and she allows him to push her back onto the pillows.

He keeps his hand there, but she keeps her eyes downcast.

Gale lets out a puff of air, removing his hand and resting his elbows on the edge of the bed.

"We're in District 13, if you were wondering."

Before she can stop herself, her head snaps up, and suddenly Gale's pale grey eyes are locked with hers.

"I- I thought- we, how?" She stammers, trying to sit up again. Gale pushes her back down gently.

"The Capitol destroyed 12, there's... there's nothing left, not that I saw. I tried to get everyone I could to the Meadow, thought maybe they wouldn't bomb where there weren't houses. I- uh- I couldn't get everyone, not from the town, I'm-"

Madge inhales sharply, grabbing his hand to make him stop.

Gale's words fade away, and he looks at her, pity etched in his expression.

"Don't," she whispers, "Please."

He nods, but his hand turns in hers. He's holding her hand, she realises.

They remain silent, and she dozes lightly, falling in and out of sleep. Explosions fill her dreams, shocking her out of sleep, but Gale is there, his hand, warm, in hers.

Madge isn't sure when he leaves, but the last thing she feels as her eyes droop, and her body relaxes, is Gale's hand squeezing hers.**  
**


	2. Chapter 2

District 13 is a strange and constricting place.

Her leg heals after another week in the hospice, but she doesn't see Gale again at all in that time. She learns from Katniss Everdeen's mom that barely anyone made it out of the district, and she, Madge, is one of the few from town that did.

The Mellarks are dead. She knew that already, she had seen the bakery go up in flames. Really, the only reason she is alive is because she was out by the Meadow instead of at home. Where her parents were.

Thinking about it makes her want to vomit, so she does her best to bury the reality of her parents deaths beneath the deaths of all the others of District 12.

Mrs. Everdeen asks her to come stay in the apartment-like room she and Prim have on one of the floors closer to ground level. She says she has to get it cleared with Coin, the District's leader first, but it should be fine.

Madge is already lonely as it is, she can't imagine what it will be like living alone, so she says yes, barely holding back her sigh of relief.

The doctor who treats her leg lets her out on crutches with instructions not to strain herself, and to get plenty of rest. He gives her a small bottle of pain relievers too, but tells her that she is allowed only so many.

Everything here is rationed, especially medicine and food.

The crutches are a constant challenge. Her arms aren't used to the strenuous labor, and her legs cramps horribly. It doesn't help that District 13 is a series of hallways, stairs, and elevators.

It's in the lunch on her second day out of the hospital that she sees Gale again. Only, she's in the middle of trying to figure out how to use her crutches and hold a tray of food simultaneously.

Gale stands taller than everyone else, already in the food line sliding a silver tray across a counter for the servers to put what looks like slop on it.

Madge wants to turn around and leave, embarrassed for some reason, and irritated with her injury. But her stomach grumbles, reminding her that she hasn't yet had breakfast, having slept through that serving.

Prim and Mrs. Everdeen helped her through yesterday's meals, but today she has no one.

Biting her lip, Madge wonders if she should risk using only one crutch and just hold her tray in the other. That plan is probably best, she decides, and starts the strange hop/swing journey to the nearest table.

Unfortunately, Gale calls her name and stops her before she is even halfway there.

She turns to face him, tilting her head back a little to meet his eyes. Her face is level with his chest, he's so much taller than her.

"Um, hi," she says, trying not to sound as shy as she feels. She knows that Gale doesn't like her very much. That he thought of her as a spoiled town kid.

She doesn't know what's making him purposefully seek her out now, in fact, it confuses her already drug addled mind.

"I didn't know you were out already," he comments, looking over her crutches pointedly, "Do you need some help?" He jerks his head to the food counter.

Madge turns pink, she hates that on top of his preconceived view of her, she has to appear weak too.

"Oh, uh, I can- I was just," she stumbles over her words flustered. Frustration builds in her, and she spits out, "I'm not weak!" before she can stop herself.

Gale takes a step back, grey eyes widening slightly, "Never said you were," he defends himself, "You can't carry a tray and walk on those things at the same time, Madge."

Her pride stinging, Madge tries to come up with something to say to him, but her brain is failing her drastically.

Gale pinches the bridge of his nose as though she is unbearable to be around, "Look, I can help you, alright? My mom would smack me upside the head if she thought I'd let you struggle on your own," he grits out, glaring at her as though he's daring her to protest again.

Madge swallows the words bubbling up in her throat, "Okay," she mutters, "Thanks."

Gale walks away, grumbling about stubborn women.

Affronted, but too slow and tired to chase after him to set him straight, Madge limps to the nearest empty table. What is Gale Hawthorne's deal anyway? It isn't as though they're friends or something. In fact, Madge is pretty sure he detests her. Or at least her upbringing. She can't help that she was the child of a merchant woman and the mayor. Was. Not is.

Her privileged upbringing means nothing now.

Her parents are dead. Along with more than half of the merchant crowd of District 12.

Madge slumps forward on her table bench, using her thumb and forefinger to rub the headache from behind her eyes.

A banging noise sounds right in front of her, and she jumps so hard the knee of her uninjured leg smacks the underside of the table. Madge barely bites back the cry of pain as Gale sits on the opposite side of her table with his own tray in hand.

He's torturing her. That's what this is all about.

Gale sets down his tray, "The feed everyone the same slop, so don't think I got this nastiness for you on purpose."

Madge hadn't even been looking at her tray, but his words send her eyes shooting down. Maybe she'll pass on eating today. Gale begins eating across from her, and she knows she has to follow suit. He'd probably comment on her snobbiness if she turned her nose up to the green and orange gunk in front of her.

Madge takes a cautious bite. Well, it isn't too awful tasting, she decides, just unseemly. "Where is your family staying," she asks him, more to break the silence than anything else.

What does it matter where his family is staying? What a stupid question.

"Level 9, in one of those apartment things," he tells her between bites, "My sister, Posy, thinks the elevator rides to get anywhere are best thing in the world." He rolls his eyes.

Sister, Madge thinks with an inaudible sigh, she'd always wanted siblings. How nice it must be to always have someone around.

But that was never a possibility. Her mom had been too sick. Too weak. Even her life was a surprise to her parents.

"I'm staying with the Everdeens," she tells him, unsure of why she's volunteering the information. Staying with the Everdeens is nice, if a little lonely. Prim and Mrs. Everdeen are always in the hospital working, but Madge can't do much outside of laying around and eating right now anyway. Maybe after her leg heals, she'll find someplace to work.

Gale swallows another bite of food with a shudder, "That's nice of them, haven't seen either of them around much since 12."

Madge forces down another mouthful, "To be honest, I don't see them much either. I think they're trying to keep busy. Because of-" She stops. Katniss.

Something crosses Gale's face, but it's gone before Madge can tell what it was.

Katniss Everdeen died on television in front of all of them, approximately one week later, District 12 was razed to the ground. The rebels must have been expecting it, because here they were, in District 13, eating whatever it is on their trays.

Madge swallows the lump growing in her throat, she will not cry in front of Gale Hawthorne.

Gale sets down his spoon quietly, "I don't suppose the Everdeens had a chance to tell you," he mutters.

Madge takes one more bite before she, too, is finished, "Tell me what?"

Gale leans forward, his eyes boring into hers intently, "Katniss is here, Madge."

She chokes on her own spit.

0000

The Katniss Everdeen she meets in a restricted hospital room is not the same Katniss Everdeen she's been friends with since school.

This Katniss is shell of the old one. A shell with matted hair, legs and arms as thin as twigs, and is prone to attacking either herself or those around her.

Madge was admitted into the ward only after she'd gotten express permission from Haymitch Abernathy, of all people. The man who had once been the town drunk had spotted her limping around on her crutches on her way back to the Everdeen's after dinner.

After a brief and confusing conversation, in which Haymitch had looked her over, gruffly inquired after her health, and given her a pass to see Katniss, (after a pleading request.)

Haymitch had pointed to the scratches down one side of his face and warned her not to set her off.

Madge sat beside a catatonic Katniss, stroking her friend's acid damaged hair.

Katniss hadn't said or done anything after the initial gasp of shock and hug Madge had received when she'd entered.

"I'm staying with your mom and your sister," she says, hoping to prompt a response.

Katniss turns until she's on her back; she looks at Madge, managing a small smile. "I'm glad you aren't on your own." she murmurs, taking the hand that was stroking her hair and holding it. "They let Prim in to see me yesterday, only after I ate something."

Madge frowns, "Katniss, you should eat anyway," she scolds gently, "You need to get better."

Katniss stares up at the ceiling. "I left Peeta to die, Madge." She whispers, "Haymitch promised he'd help me save him, but he didn't."

Squeezing her friend's hand, Madge leans forward until her elbows rest on the mattress. "You don't know for sure if he's.. if he's dead," she tries. The thought of Peeta being dead hurts her too. Peeta is the sweetest boy she's ever met, and everyone in town knew about his awful mother. They were never close friends, but they talked sometimes, in town or at school.

"He should be here, not me."

"You both should be here. Safe." Madge counters.

Katniss sniffs and turns to look at her again, "I'm glad you're here," she says, "I don't think Gale is very happy with me right now."

Madge tries ignores the way her stomach jumps, "Why on earth would he be angry with you?"

Shouldn't Gale be happy that his friend is alive and, well, marginally okay?

"Gale never liked Peeta very much. I don't think he understands why I- why I care about him."

A sinking feeling starts in Madge, of course, she'd always thought Gale liked Katniss. The silly crush she's been harboring for years would have never amounted to anything, she knows that.

Shaking her head against the pillow, Katniss rolls her eyes, "I can't help what I feel. I can't help not knowing either."

Bemused, Madge wiggles their joined hands back and forth, "What do you mean?"

Katniss shakes her head. "I don't know," she answers, "I love Gale, I do. But, not in the way he wants me to. Maybe, if things were different... but they aren't, Madge. Then there's Peeta, who is more than I will ever deserve. I just- I never even wanted to get married in the first place!"

Despite her friend's distress, Madge lets out a snort.

Alarmed, Katniss pulls her hand away and rises up on her elbows.

"Don't laugh! I'm hurting them both, and I don't mean to. But I can't seem to help it."

Madge fights away her smile, "Do you love, Peeta, Katniss?" she asks, mostly to help her friend, but a little because she is actually curious about it.

Katniss frowns and stays silent.

Observing her friend, Madge realises that making a choice between Gale and Peeta is so hard for her because hurting them is breaking her apart. Katniss has always been protective over her loved ones.

But how does she protect them from herself.

"It isn't your fault, Katniss," she says quietly. "Whatever happens, with Peeta, or with Gale. They won't hate your for it."

"I wish things with Gale would go back to the way they were."

Madge takes that as her answer about Peeta.

0000

The next time she sees Gale isn't nearly as humiliating as the last time. Her leg is healed completely, so she no longer has the cumbersome crutches to deal with. A slight limp and an ugly scar on her calf are all that's left of her shrapnel wound.

Madge found a job in the hospital. Nothing compared to what Prim and Mrs. Everdeen are doing, just taking the laundry to and from the washroom.

She spots Gale on her way back to the hospital with a cart full of clean laundry.

"Gale?" she calls. He turns around, and she's about to asking what she's doing in the medical ward when she sees the blood.

"You're hurt!" she cries out in shock. Blood is not something she can handle, that's why she only washes laundry.

Gale grimaces, probably because her cry is echoing through the hallway. Madge leaves her cart alongside the wall and goes to him.

Blood is staining the sleeve of his uniform clad shoulder.

Uniform?  
"Hey, Madge," he grunts, obviously in pain.

Madge's eyes dart between the blood on his shoulder and his pained expression.

"I'll help you to the hospital."

Gale shakes his head, "I can make it, it's just my shoulder." He shrugs as if to wave away her concern, but the motion makes him groan and sway on his feet.

Madge takes him by the uninjured arm and steers him toward the hospital entrance, "Shut up and let me help you."

_AN: I hope to have the next part up soon. I think I might expand beyond a 3 shot. Madge and Gale are barely taking the first step towards friendship right now. By the next one, feelings should be established._

_Thanks for reading!_

_-Marie_


	3. Chapter 3

Somewhere between frogmarching Gale to the hospital, learning that he and a small group of others are training for a rescue mission, and inviting her to have dinner with his family, Madge and Gale become friends.

Not the normal sort of friends. The type of friends who are teased for bickering like an old married couple, or who lose track of time and of each other when other things crop up.

It's a casual sort of friendship. Like they've known each other forever and therefore don't get angry or offended when they don't always see each other, or make efforts to meet up.

Madge likes it that way. And she thinks Gale does too. He's always spouting about not needing another responsibility.

He also grouses about the strangeness of having his family fed and clothed without his help.

Madge thinks he likes to be in control, and now feels put out because he needn't hunt and trade to keep his family alive.

Gale stops by -sporadically- after her shifts at the hospital ends. Maybe once or twice a week, depending on whether he's training, attending a meeting, or visiting Katniss.

Katniss is staying with the rest of her family and Madge now. At first, Madge had tried to leave. She planned to stay with the other orphaned wards on Level 6, but the Everdeens wouldn't have it.

She shares a room with Katniss, sometimes Prim, who has nightmares about the bombing and wriggles her skinny body between them on the bed.

During the day Katniss is either alone in the apartment, or bullying Haymitch about letting her train too.

Madge hopes Haymitch won't let her. At least not yet.

Gale keeps Katniss company, when he isn't busy, but Madge gets the feeling visiting her is hurting him.

He never talks about it. At least, not to her. When they're together, Gale seems to actively avoid talking about Katniss or anything related to her.

She doesn't know why, but she tries to respect his unspoken wishes.

They can talk about other things, anyway, from how Madge probably dislikes the Underground more than Gale, or what it was like to be temporarily free when he hunted in the woods outside of the fence in 12.

Perhaps that is why Madge dislikes this building beneath the earth's surface. She never had the chance to be free. Even for a little while. She's gone from one cage to another. The most excitement she's had was buying illegal strawberries.

Gale laughs loudly when she mentions it to him, then sobers quickly. "It isn't about the excitement, Madge."

Her cheeks flame under his disapproval, but she holds her ground, "I know. But you can't deny that there was a thrill."

He scowls, but Madge knows she is in the right.

Gale is a grump. And he doesn't like to be wrong.

0000

Back aching from pushing laundry back and forth all day, Madge counts the seconds until her shift ends. Oh, what she wouldn't give for a shower and a bed.

With a sigh, Madge clocks out as soon as the clock strikes 10. She half shuffles, half walks to the exit, shoulders slumped and eyes drooping with exhaustion.

There were three flu patients. _Three_! And all of them felt the need to vomit multiple times during the day. Why was she working here again?

Madge ignored the obvious answer as she drags herself down the hall to the elevator.

"Madge?"

The sound of Gale's voice interrupts the visions of fluffy pillows and warm warm water she's having. Madge turns around, frowning, "Have you been walking behind me all this time?" she questions, mentally stamping out the fluttery feeling she's been getting whenever he sneaks up on her.

Madge doesn't know when it happened, but somewhere between the hospital visits and the rambling conversations, her heart has sprouted wings and left her for Gale.

The same Gale who's heart left him for Katniss.

Her stomach turns with anxiety just thinking about it. She can't love Gale. That road leads to heartbreak unless he miraculously stops loving Katniss. The very thought is laughable.

So much for their casual friendship.

He sidles up beside her, quiet as a mouse, "I was right outside the door, you shot right passed me."

They continue down the hallway together.

"I'm actually on a mission," she says significantly. Gale cocks his head to the side, a line appearing between his eyebrows.

"There is a warm shower and a wonderful bed waiting for me in a little flat on Level 4," she says with sincerity, "I have to get to it quick, before something happens."

Gale makes a noise in his throat, "Something happens?"

Madge sniffs delicately, "A girl can become a horrible being when she's deprived a shower and sleep."

She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest when he laughs at her; the sound echoes in the empty hallway.

"I don't see what's so hilarious," she says loftily, as they near the lift. He presses the button that leads to the Everdeen's flat.

"You are, crazy." he replies with a shake of the head. A bell goes off as the doors open, and they step inside.

"Crazy?" Madge scoffs indignantly, "Some of us just have our priorities in order."

Gale leans an elbow on the hand rail, his expression grim.

The lift jerks as it begins to move upward, and Madge grabs for the hand rail too. "What's the matter?" she asks, somewhat warily. Gale doesn't always appreciate concern for whatever it is he's thinking.

He shakes his head, "I'll tell you about it some other time," he says dismissively, "You said you were tired, I'll stop by the hospital tomorrow."

Madge frowns, something here is not adding up, "Don't you usually have training _and_ meetings on Thursdays?"

She watches as he purses his lips, deliberating his answer, "Has something happened?" she asks with growing trepidation.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Gale releases a long breath, "We-"

The elevator jolts to a stop and the doors open, cutting off Gale's words. Madge is about to suggest they just stand in the hall and talk when Gale takes her by the elbow and steers her out of the lift.

He holds onto her elbow, until they're standing in front of the Everdeen's door.

"Listen, Madge, can you get off tomorrow?" he asks, stopping her from entering the code on the keypad.

Madge lowers her hand, "I'll try..." she looks him over contemplatively. Sweat is beading on his forehead, and the hand holding her elbow is clammy.

"Are you sure you're all right?" She lifts a hand to his forehead. No fever, but his skin is strangely cold.

Gale's jaw clenches, "I'm fine, Madge," he releases her elbow. She can see him retracting into himself.

"Just see if you can get off by lunch time."

Madge nods, frowning in consternation, "Okay, I'll-"

"Great, I'll come get you. Night." Gale's hand squeezes hers briefly before he turns and stalks back the way he came.

Madge stands staring at his back for a moment as she wonders what it is that's making him act so strange.

Thoughts of cleanliness and rest spur her into action eventually, and she knocks herself back into the matter at hand.

Exhaustion. And ralphed on sheets.

She enters the code with no further delay.

0000

Nurse Briggins let's her off for the rest of the day before Madge even has the words half-way out of her mouth.

"You're always working, Margaret!" she exclaims, "It's about time you got out of here on a date, go on and head home, get dressed up-"

Madge, blushing and stammering, corrects her, "It's not a date, Mrs. Briggins, just need to meet a friend. I can work-"

It ends with Madge insisting to work until at least 11, and Mrs. Briggins tutting disapprovingly.

There are no pissy or vomit covered sheets today, not even bloody cloths, so Madge sits around in the back room, staying out of the doctors and nurses way.

Butterflies have taken up residence in her stomach, and she ponders all the different scenarios that could possibly occur today.

Nothing sensible comes to her. Just the memories of Gale's hand on her last night and the way he towered over her in front of the Everdeen's flat.

Madge bites off a fingernail. This isn't good for her health... or her fingers.

"Margaret, there's a young man here for you."

Well... her face is certainly on fire now.

Gale is standing just outside the entrance to the back room wearing a pair of jeans and a white button down. Nurse Briggins is beside, giving Madge a look that says she'll be receiving the third degree later.

"Ready, Madge?" Gale asks. He looks uncomfortable and... really clean.

Upon closer inspection, Madge realises that he smells like soap and his hair is combed.

Gale never combs his hair.

Madge knows because she's seen his mother berate him about it.

"Uh, yeah," she stutters.

Gale's extends a hand for her. Madge stares.

Does he mean to hold her hand?

Gale makes a sound in his throat and steps closer; his hand closes around hers.

"Come on, my mom is making lunch."

He tucks her hand into the crook of his elbow and pulls her out of the hospital.

The Hawthorne's apartment has three rooms, a kitchen that doubles as a dining room, and a sitting room. Gale's soldier's paycheck and Hazelle's housekeeping covers the expense.

Most families are provided with homes and food stamps, at first, the Hawthornes were as well, but the life they left behind ingrained habits into Gale and his mother that kept them from accepting the charity for any longer than was absolutely necessary.

Mrs. Hawthorne buys food at the store, and they eat at home instead of in the dining halls. Madge would do the same, if she could, but with work all day and her complete and utter inability to cook... well, it isn't the best idea.

Eating with the Hawthorne's always leaves an emptiness in Madge. A strange aching in her chest. Watching Gale rough-housing with his brothers, or seeing Posy in his arms makes the loneliness haunt her more than ever.

The Hawthorne's have each other. Madge has no one.

Madge pinches her thigh as she spoons stew into her mouth. She doesn't have no one, she reprimands herself sharply. She has Katniss, and Prim, and even Mrs. Everdeen.

She has Gale and his family.

The nurses and doctors she has become friends with, as well.

Mrs. Hawthorne got up from the table to clean up Posy, who has somehow managed to get stew down her front. Madge uses the commotion combined with Rory picking on Vick, (who had jumped up to help) for being a momma's boy, to catch Gale's eye.

He slants a smile at her, but she can see the thoughts swirling in his eyes.

"It's a good thing everyone at school was scared of Gale, otherwise you'd be bloodied every time you-"

Gale breaks away from Madge's gaze to smack the back of Rory's head.

"Leave him alone, nimwad," he grumbles, rolling his eyes at Vick's triumphant whooping, "You were just as scrawny as he is not too long ago."

The jubilant look Vick had been sporting was replaced with a scowl, "Hey!" he cried indignantly.

Mrs. Hawthorne tutted disapprovingly at her sons, and Madge giggled at the chastised expression Vick had on. Poor thing truly was rather devoted to his mom.

"That's enough. Leave Vick alone. I need a son who behaves like a proper gentleman-"

Gale scoffed and Rory groaned.

Mrs. Hawthorne shifted Posy on her hip, "You can gripe all you want now, young man," she directed at Rory, "But no woman worth looking twice at will take a body who behaves like a depraved hooligan." She fixed Rory with a look that meant business, "Especially not Ms. Primrose Everdeen."

Madge laughs loudly, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. Rory's face has turned the color of ripe tomatoes, and his mouth his working like a fish out of water.

As much as it hurts Madge to be surrounded by people who have each other, despite their circumstances and the hardships they'd suffered, it helps close the hole in her heart just a bit to see them safe and happy.

0000

The rock Gale's throwing at the wall opposite them makes a hollow echo in the deserted hall outside of the Hawthorne's apartment.

"I didn't know Rory had a crush on Prim," he comments, allowing the rock to hit the floor instead of catching it in his palm. Gale leans his head against the wall behind him, rolling it to the side to look at her.

Madge shrugs, "I haven't really been around often enough to talk about that sort of thing. Prim works in a different area of the hospital, and I usually sleep as soon as I get home."

Gale leans forward to retrieve his rock. "I'm leaving, Madge."

Somehow, she'd expected it, Madge realises, as she watches Gale sigh loudly. His back rising and falling with the motion.

"Is it Peeta?" she asks, almost afraid to. She doesn't want him to go. Gale is the closet thing she has to a friend besides the Everdeens. She's already lost her parents, she can't bear to lose anyone else.

Gale sighs heavily, "I can't say. My mom wanted to know where I was going, and I couldn't tell her." Gale picks at a scab on the inside of his index finger.

Madge lays a hand on his shoulder hesitantly; she doesn't know what to tell him. She knows how much he loves his family, how it must hurt to leave his mother worrying.

Gale turns to her, his eyes, grey and stormy, searching hers. "I need you to promise me something," he says urgently, fingers closing around her shoulders.

Madge nods because, well, what else can she do?

"Take care of them, my family. If I don't-" he pauses, swallowing, "If something happens, I need to know that they'll be okay."

Her eyes are prickling with tears, "Gale, you-"

He shakes her a little, "Promise me, Undersee."

Her hands close around his wrists, and a tear slips down her cheek. She can't lose anyone else. She _can't_. "Okay." she says, her voice embarrassingly wobbly.

Gale yanks her forward, hugs her tightly, "Don't cry. I'll be fine."

Madge sniffles, her face buried in his neck.

She stops crying.

0000

She is there in the hangar with his family when he comes home. Posy is holding her hand, Vick has his arms around his mother's waist, Rory tries and fails to look unaffected. It's been 3 days. 3 days without a word about the mission from anyone.

Katniss and Prim stand to her right, looking just as pale and worried as she and the Hawthornes do.

Madge hopes that everything is okay. That Peeta will be with them. That Gale will be too.

The ceiling above the landing pod slides open, and for a moment Madge closes her eyes as real sunlight touches her skin. The whirring engine of the hover craft makes her ears ache, as the ship blots out the sun, lowering slowly into the hangar.

Posy is pressing one ear to Madge's stomach, using her hand to cover the other one.

10 minutes later, the door is opening. Katniss has given up standing idly, as she runs for the door, Madge sort of wishes she had the courage to do that too.

Just as Katniss steps onto the ramp though, Haymitch and another should exit, the front of a stretcher carried between them. Madge's heart is blocking her airways.

Hazelle Hawthorne has her arms around Rory and Vick.

No one moves. No one breathes.

Another two soldiers are carrying the rear, and as the stretcher nears, Madge sees a shock of blonde hair.

Katniss is beside Peeta, holding his hand, walking as fast as she can to keep up without jostling him.

He's unconscious.

Madge spots a stain too red and too big on the bandages covering his shoulder.

Katniss brushes passed them, her face white and drawn.

Madge hugs Posy closer and closes her eyes.

"Gale!"

Vick's shot brings everything back into focus.

Gale exits the hover craft, and the entire Hawthorne family are leaving Madge to greet him.

She hangs back. He is their family after all. Not hers.

As Madge draws nearer, she can see how different he looks. How tired and worn. His clothes are filthy, and there is blood streaked across his cheek. Just behind his family now, she sees the blood on his hands too.

He must have been trying to stop Peeta from bleeding out.

Vick and Post are talking a mile a minute, Rory is letting Gale hug him, Mrs. Hawthorne is cupping her son's face, and Madge waits. Waits until they have all had their say.

She hopes he won't mind too much if she hugs him too.

Madge bites her nail, maybe she should slip away now, while they're all distracted.

The thought leaves as soon as it comes, because Gale has noticed her now, and she can't possibly go anywhere.

"Madge," he says quietly. Somewhere in her peripheral, Madge sees Mrs. Hawthorne ushering her children away.

Gale steps closer, "I-" he shakes his head, laughs softly, "I missed you."

Madge bites her lip, "Me too. I mean you, I missed you."

A hole right beneath her right now would be greatly appreciated.

Gale smiles, laughs at her, takes another step.

In the next moment, Madge isn't sure who moves first.

All she knows is the way it feels to be lifted until she's tip toeing, with Gale's arms around her so tight she can hardly breathe.

Her arms are around his neck, and one second they're hugging, but the next he's pulling away.

His hand slips from her back to her cheek, "I missed you," he repeats, and then he's kissing her.

Later, he tells her that he's liked her all along.

Later, he says how sorry he is for treating her so horribly back in 12.

Later, after dinner with his family, they sit on the couch, his arm around her shoulder, and he tells her how the way she pulled through and survived after the bombing is what made him see _her_.

Later, he kisses her again, and she admits she's cared about him for ages. He tells her that she was all he could think about during the mission.

Madge doesn't know how it happens, or when she realised it, but her heart is no longer a dead weight in her chest.

The pain, once so strong, is dulled.

Somehow Gale and his family have healed a hole she thought would remain forever.

Madge sits on the Hawthorne's couch, her head on Gale's shoulder, her fingers tangled with his, and this time, when her eyes close, she doesn't see visions of the dead.

She sees peace.


End file.
